What did #MeToo Really Achieve?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 20 December 2018
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
#MeToo became viral following allegations of sexual harassment and violence at the hands of Harvey Weinstein. Now women and men in their millions around the world have been mobilised by the hashtag to share their stories of abuse. But its founder Tarana Burke fears the movement has moved away from its original remit to give a voice to victims of sexual violence. She worries it is being talked about as a vindictive plot against men. So what is the reality on the ground around the globe? We hear about the impact of the #MeToo in India and Iran. What did it really achieve? Presenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Jim Frank
(South Korean demonstrators at a rally for the country's #MeToo movement in Seoul, 2018. Photo credit: Jung Yeon-Je/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the inquiry on the BBC World Service with me, Kavita Puri. |
| 0:05.1 | Each week, one question, four expert witnesses and an answer. It's evening in Tokyo. |
| 0:17.0 | Monica is working at a restaurant. |
| 0:21.3 | She's a part-time waitress paying her way for college. |
| 0:25.0 | The 26-year-old was saying goodbye to a regular valued customer when it happened. |
| 0:35.6 | He grabbed her chest. |
| 0:37.9 | She was shocked. |
| 0:39.8 | Her manager shrugged. |
| 0:49.6 | She went home and said nothing to her family. She felt full of shame. Then she decided to do something. Inspired by Me Too, she started a movement on Japanese social media |
| 0:57.3 | to allow victims and those that support them to come together show solidarity. She called it we too. |
| 1:05.0 | The hashtag me too has been used well over 19 million times in the past year. |
| 1:15.0 | The term's been searched for in every corner of the globe. |
| 1:18.0 | It spawned countless movements across the world, |
| 1:21.0 | like hashtag We too in Japan. |
| 1:27.0 | They've been high-profile resignations, even prosecutions against men who abuse their power. But in a tag talk last month, |
| 1:35.8 | Meathoo's founder voiced concern saying, |
| 1:39.4 | Suddenly, a movement that was started to support all survivors of sexual violence |
| 1:44.0 | is being talked about like it's a vindictive plot against men. |
| 1:48.0 | And I'm like, huh? |
| 1:50.0 | She feared the campaign had moved away from its original remit of giving a voice to victims of sexual violence. |
| 1:59.0 | So this week we're asking, what did me to really achieve? |
| 2:05.0 | Part one, Getting Started. |
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